The coat of arms of Norroy King of Arms, taken from Lant's Roll c. 1595

The coat of arms of Ulster King of Arms, also taken from Lant's Roll

Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is the King of Arms at the College of Heralds with jurisdiction over England north of the Trent and the six counties of Northern Ireland. The two offices of Norroy and Ulster were formerly separate, but were merged in 1943. Norroy King of Arms is the older office, there being a reference as early as 1276 to a "King of Heralds beyond the Trent in the North." The name is derived from the French nord roi meaning "north king". The office of Ulster King of Arms was established in 1552 by King Edward VI to replace the older post of Ireland King of Arms, which had lapsed in 1487.

The Ulster King of Arms was Registrar and King of Arms of the Order of St Patrick, and the Norroy and Ulster King of Arms still holds this position, though no new knights of that Order have been created since 1934, and the last surviving knight died in 1974. Heraldic matters in the Republic of Ireland are handled by the Genealogical Office.

The arms of Norroy and Ulster King of Arms were devised in 1980 based on elements from the arms of the two former offices. They are blazoned: Quarterly Argent and Or a Cross Gules on a Chief per pale Azure and Gules a Lion passant guardant Or crowned with an open Crown between a Fleur-de-lis and a Harp Or.

References

The College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street : being the sixteenth and final monograph of the London Survey Committee, Walter H. Godfrey, assisted by Sir Anthony Wagner, with a complete list of the officers of arms, prepared by H. Stanford London, (London, 1963)